The French Air Force 2/33 « Savoie » Reconnaissance Squadron celebrated its centenary on June 22, 2012.

The centennial was presided over by General de Rousiers, a former 2/33 pilot in the 1980s, who is now the permanent Chairman of the European Union Military Committee (CEUMC).

This ceremony was held at BA 118 FAF Station in Mont de Marsan, in the southwest of France. It was more particularly dedicated to its oldest flight (escadrille in French) – SAL 6, which means Salmson aircraft, and 6 as the sixth flight created in the French Army Aviation.

This creation occurred in December 1912, but traces of its previous existence might be found as early as September 1912, and maybe earlier. I will keep you posted if necessary.

The centennial had begun earlier on Friday 22nd of June in the morning with the presentation of the Rhine Gull insignia to the new SAL 6 Flight members.

Some of the senior members invited – all veterans – could see that their traditions were kept up at a high level as the candidates had to go through various « ordeals » to deserve their brand new badges.

The SAL 6 flight’s emblem consists of a white bird, a Rhine gull clad with a blue circle as shown hereafter:

ER 2/33 Savoie Recce Squadron, SAL 6 « Rhine Gull » Emblem

ER 2/33 Savoie, SAL 6 « Rhine Gull » Emblem

It is assumed that the origins of the SAL 6 flight emblem date back to 1920.

Mirage F1CR and previous ER 2/33 SAL 6 aircraft

Mirage F1CR starboard and previous ER 2/33 SAL 6 aircraft

SAL 6 was disbanded for almost a year in Germany from April 10, 1919.

The flight was created anew in Germany into the 16th flight of the 33rd Aerial Observation Regiment (33eme RAO). That new flight would have kept the SAL 6, C 6, and D6 traditions since the calling SAL 6 remained along with 16th flight (16ème escadrille) for that decade. However, it would have had a new batch of pilots, mechanics, and aircraft.

General Charles de Gaule, who was in exile in the United Kingdom, named Colonel Valin as Commander-in-Chief of the Free French Air Force (FAFL – Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres) during the Second World War.

The aviator made a decision of giving its squadrons a French region name for each of them in order to address a strong message to the Vichy regime which collaborated with Hitler, and the Axis powers.

As a consequence, the Reconnaissance Group GR 2/33 was named Savoie on the 3rd of November 1943, and it has kept this name so far.

This is why you can see the Savoy’s flag on various SAL 6 aircraft. ER 2/33 was stationed near Strasbourg between 1960 and 1994. This is why the Savoy’s red flag covered with the white Saint John’s Cross (Croix de St Jean) was painted on a huge concrete slab, on a patch of lawn, in the middle of the squadron area, close to the 2/33 photo hangar at Strasbourg-EntzheimFAF Station. This is why this flag has been billowing above the new squadron facilities since early 2012. This is also why an official twinning was organized between this squadron, and the General Council of Savoie. As I started to look up through various sources on squadrons & flights history, it turned out that SAL 6 Rhine Gull Flight is a very old unit. Probably one of the oldest in the world.

According to the chart here below, ER 02033 Savoie, and more particularly SAL 6 Rhine Gull would be the third oldest reconnaissance squadron or flight in the world as of late 2012:

Rank.

NAME

From

ROLE

SQUADRON (December 2012)

COUNTRY Current station

1 ?

SAL 1

Mar 29

1912

Electronic Warfare Flight

EEA 54 Dunkerque

FRANCE, Evreux

2 ?

No 1

?

1878

Balloon Company

No 1 RAF

UK, Cottesmore (N°1 RAF should reform in late 2012)

May 13

1912

Royal Flying Corps

Aug ?

1914

Heavier than air Reconnaissance & Fighter Squadron

3 ?

No 2

May 13

1912

Reconnaissance Sqn

No 2 RAF

UK, Marham

3 ?

No 3

May 13

Fighter Squadron

No 3 RAF

UK, Coningsby

5

SPA 3

Jun ?

Fighter Flight (Guynemer’s flight)

EC 1/2 Cigognes

FRANCE, Dijon

6

BR 104

Jul ?

Transport Flight

ET 2/61 Franche Comte

FRANCE, Orleans

7 ?

No 4

Aug ?

1912

Fighter Training Sqn

No 4 RAF

UK, Wittering

7 ?

SPA 15

Aug 22

Fighter Flight

EC 1/7 Provence

FRANCE, Saint Dizier

9 ?

SAL 6

Dec ?

1912

Reconnaissance Flight

ER 2/33 Savoie

FRANCE, Mont de Marsan

9 ?

SAL 8

Dec 10

Transport Flight

ETL 1/62 Vercors

FRANCE, Creil

11 ?

BR 11

Feb ?

1913

Reconnaissance Flight

ER 2/33 Savoie

FRANCE, Mont de Marsan

11?

SAL 14

?

1913

Transport Flight

ET 1/64 Bearn

FRANCE, Evreux

13 ?

SPA 103

Feb 16

Fighter Flight

EC 1/2 Cigognes

FRANCE, Dijon

13 ?

SAL 17

Feb 16

Helicopter Flight

EH 1/67 Pyrenees

FRANCE, Cazaux

15 ?

1 RS

Mar 5

Reconnaissance Sqn

1 RS

USA, Beale, California

16 ?

CFS

Mar ?

Training Unit

CFS

AUSTRALIA, East Sale

17 ?

1 Sqn

Apr 16

1913

Fighter Flight

2 Wing Tactique

BELGIUM, Florennes

18 ?

SAL 18

?

Transport Flight

ET 1/64 Bearn

FRANCE, Evreux

18 ?

SAL 19

May ?

Transport Flight

ET 2/61 Franche Comte

FRANCE, Orleans

18 ?

VB 101

?

Transport Flight

ET 1/61 Touraine

FRANCE, Orleans

21 ?

No 5

Jul 26

Reconnaissance Sqn

No 5 RAF

UK, Waddington

22 ?

SPA BI 20 or MF 20

Dec ?

1913

Electronic Warfare Flight

EEA 54 Dunkerque

FRANCE, Evreux

23

No 6

Jan 31

1914

Fighter Squadron

No 6 RAF

UK, Leuchars

24

No 7

May 1

1914

Fighter Squadron

No 7 RAF

UK, Odiham

25 ?

SAL 22

Jun 6

Air Refuelling Flight

GRV 93 Bretagne

FRANCE, Istres

26 ?

SPA 69

Jun ?

Fighter Flight

EC 3/11 Corse

FRANCE, Republic of Djibouti

27

SPA 26

Aug 26

Fighter Flight

EC 1/2 Cigognes

FRANCE, Dijon

28

SAL 28

Sep 1

Fighter Flight

EC 1/91 Gascogne

FRANCE, Saint Dizier

28

No 203

Sep 1

1914

Helicopter OCU

No 203 RAF

UK, Valley

30

SPA 31

Sep 24

Fighter Training Flight

ETD 2/7 Argonne

FRANCE, Nancy

31

SAL 33

Oct 2

Reconnaissance Flight

ED 1/33 Belfort Drone Squadron

FRANCE, Cognac

32

No 202

Oct 17

SAR Squadron

No 202 RAF

UK, Valley

33

SPA 102

Nov 16

Fighter Flight

EC 2/3 Champagne

FRANCE, Nancy

34

No 9

Dec 8

1914

Fighter Squadron

No 9 RAF

UK, Marham

35

No 8

Jan 1

1915

AEW Squadron

No 8 RAF

UK, Waddington

36

SPA 38

Jan 8

1915

Fighter Flight

EC 3/30 Lorraine

FRANCE, Al Dhafra, UAE

37

No 13

Jan 10

Fighter Squadron

No 13 RAF

UK, Marham

38 ?

No 17

Feb 1

Fighter Squadron

No 17 RAF

UK, Coningsby

39 ?

No 14

Feb 3

ISTAR Squadron

No 14 RAF

UK, Waddington

40 ?

No 11

Feb 14

1915

Fighter Squadron

No 11 RAF

UK, Coningsby

40 ?

No 12

Feb 14

Fighter Squadron

No 12 RAF

UK, Lossiemouth

42 ?

SPA 99

Feb ?

Helicopter Flight

EH 3/67 Parisis

FRANCE, Villacoublay

43 ?

No 15

Mar 1

Fighter Squadron

No 15 RAF

UK, Lossiemouth

44 ?

SPA BI 55

Mar 3

Transport Flight

ETL 1/62 Vercors

FRANCE, Creil

45 ?

SPA 88

Mar ?

1915

Fighter Flight

EC 3/11 Corse

FRANCE, Republic of Djibouti

45 ?

SPA 97

Mar ?

Fighter Flight

EC 2/30 Normandie-Niemen

FRANCE, Mont de Marsan

47 ?

No 30

Mar 24

Transport Squadron

No 30 RAF

UK, Brize Norton

48 ?

SPA 48

Mar 29

Fighter Training Flight

ETD 2/7 Argonne

FRANCE, Nancy

49 ?

BR 44

Apr 4

Fighter Flight

EC 3/3 Ardennes

FRANCE, Nancy

50 ?

BR 113

Apr ?

1915

Transport Flight

ET 1/61 Touraine

FRANCE, Orleans

51 ?

102 RQS

?

1908

Balloon Company

1st Aero Company

USA, Westhampton Beach, New York

May ?

1915

Heavier than air Rescue Sqn

102nd Rescue Sqn

51 ?

SPA 95

May 1

1915

Fighter Flight

EC 1/3 Navarre

FRANCE, Nancy

53 ?

C 53 or SPA BI 53

May 2

1915

Reconnaissance Flight

ER 2/33 Savoie

FRANCE, Mont de Marsan

53 ?

SAL 56

May 2

Fighter Flight

EC 3/30 Lorraine

FRANCE, Al Dhafra, UAE

55 ?

SPA BI 54

May 7

Air Refuelling Flight

GRV 93 Bretagne

FRANCE, Istres

56 ?

SPA 57

May 11

Fighter Training Flight

EE 5/2 Cote d’or

FRANCE, Dijon

56 ?

No 18

May 11

SAR Squadron

No 18 RAF

UK, Odiham

58 ?

2 ARS

May 12

Air Refuelling Sqn

2 ARS

USA, McGuire -Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey

59 ?

SAL 58

May 20

1915

AEW Flight

36th EDCA

FRANCE, Avord

60

SPA 96

Jun 1

Fighter Flight

EC 2/4 La Fayette

FRANCE, Istres

61

SPA 93

Jul/Sep?

Fighter Flight

EC 2/30 Normandie-Niemen

FRANCE, Mont de Marsan

62

SPA 65

Aug 2

Fighter Training Flight

EE 5/2 Cote d’or

FRANCE, Dijon

63

SPA 62

Aug 11 Apr 25?

Fighter Flight

EC 1/3 Navarre

FRANCE, Nancy

64 ?

No 22

Sep 1

1915

SAR Squadron

No 22 RAF

UK, Valley

65 ?

SPA 67

Sep 17

Fighter Flight

EC 2/3 Champagne

FRANCE, Nancy

66 ?

F 118

Sep ?

Transport Flight

ET 3/61 Poitou

FRANCE, Orleans

66 ?

F 119

Sep ?

Transport Flight

ET 3/61 Poitou

FRANCE, Orleans

68

No 24

Sep 21

Transport Squadron

No 24 RAF

UK, Brize Norton

69

No 31

Oct 11

1915

Fighter Squadron

No 31 RAF

UK, Marham

70

SPA 91

Oct 13

Fighter Flight

EC 2/30 Normandie-Niemen

FRANCE, Mont de Marsan

71

BR 66

Oct 24

Fighter Flight

EC 1/91 Gascogne

FRANCE, Saint Dizier

72

No 27

Sep 21

Helicopter Squadron

No 27 RAF

UK, Odiham

73

No 28

Nov 7

Helicopter Squadron

No 28 RAF

UK, Benson

73

No 29

Nov 7

1915

OCU

No 29 RAF

UK, Coningsby

75

No 1 (AFC)

Jan 1

1916

Fighter Squadron

No 1 RAAF

AUSTRALIA, Amberley

76

No 32

Jan 12

VIP Transport Sqn « The Royal Squadron »

No 32 RAF

UK, Northolt

76

No 33

Jan 12

Helicopter Squadron

No 33 RAF

UK, Benson

78

BR 228

Feb 1

Electronic Warfare Flight

EEA 54 Dunkerque

FRANCE, Evreux

79

BR 216

Feb 16

1916

Transport Flight

ETOM 82 Maine

France, Tahiti

80

No 45

Mar 1

Training Squadron

No 45 RAF

UK, Cranwell

80

No 47

Mar 1

Transport Flight

No 47 RAF

UK, Brize Norton

82

N 124

Apr 9

Fighter Flight

EC 2/4 La Fayette Escadrille U.S. 103rd Aero Sqn

FRANCE, Istres

83

No 39

Apr 15

1916

Drone Squadron

No 39 RAF

UK, Creech, USA

84

SPA 73

Apr 19

Fighter Training Flight

ETO 2 Nice

FRANCE, Cazaux

85

No 55

Apr 27

Training Squadron

No 55 RAF

UK, Cranwell

86

No 60

Apr 30

Helicopter Training Sqn

No 60 RAF

UK, Shawbury

87

No 54

May 5

1916

ISR Sqn & OCU

No 54 RAF

UK, Waddington

88

No 51

May 15

SIGINT Squadron

No 51 RAF

UK, Waddington

89

No 56

Jun 8

OEU

No 56 RAF

UK, Waddington

90

SPA 75

Jul 13

Fighter Flight

EC 2/3 Champagne

FRANCE, Nancy

91

No 41

Jul 14

1916

Test & Evaluation Sqn

No 41 RAF

UK, Coningsby

92

Jasta 2

Aug 10

Fighter Squadron

Jagdstaffel 2 (Red Baron Sqn)

GERMAN Empire Bertincourt, France

93

Jasta 4

Aug 25

Fighter Squadron

Jagdstaffel 4 (Ernst Udet Sqn)

GERMAN Empire Vaux, France

94 ?

No 2 (AFC)

Sep ?

AEW Squadron

No 2 RAAF

AUSTRALIA, Williamtown

95 ?

SPA 77

Sep 19

1916

Fighter Flight

EC 1/7 Provence

FRANCE, Saint Dizier

95 ?

No 3 (AFC)

Sep 19

Fighter Squadron

No 3 RAAF

AUSTRALIA, Williamtown

97 ?

Jasta 11

Sep 28

Fighter Squadron

Jagdstaffel 11 « Flying Circus » (Red Baron Sqn)

GERMAN Empire Douai, France

98

No 4 (AFC)

Oct 16

FACDU Squadron

No 4 RAAF

AUSTRALIA, Williamtown

99

No 208

Oct 26

1916

Fighter Training Sqn

No 208 RAF

UK, Valley

100

3 FTS

Nov 1

Fighter Training Sqn

3 FTS

USA, Vance

100

No 78

Nov 1

Helicopter Squadron

No 78 RAF

UK, Benson

102

SPA 79

Nov 21

Fighter Flight

EC 1/91 Gascogne

FRANCE, Saint Dizier

103

SPA 78

Dec 12

Fighter Training Flight

ETO 2 Nice

FRANCE, Cazaux

104

SPA 81

Dec 26

1916

Fighter Flight

EC 2/4 La Fayette

FRANCE, Istres

105

No 84

Jan 7

1917

SAR Squadron

No 84 RAF

UK, Akrotiri, Cyprus

106

No 100

Feb 23

1917

Fighter Training Sqn

No 100 RAF

UK, Leeming

107

BR 131

Jun 2

Transport Flight

ET 2/64 Anjou

FRANCE, Evreux

107

12 RS

Jun 2

Reconnaissance Sqn

12th Recce Sqn

USA, Beale, California

109

119 FS

Jun 5

Fighter Squadron

119th Fighter Sqn

USA, Atlantic City, New Jersey

110

34 BS

Jun 11

Bomb Squadron

34th Bomb Squadron

USA, Ellsworth

111

35 FS

Jun 12

1917

Fighter Squadron

35th Fighter Squadron

USA, Kunsan, S. Korea

111

36 FS

Jun 12

Fighter Squadron

36th Fighter Squadron

USA, Osan, S. Korea

113

9 BS

Jun 14

Bomb Squadron

9th Bomb Squadron

USA, Dyess

114

No 6 (AFC)

Jun 15

Fighter Training Sqn

No 6 RAAF

AUSTRALIA, Amberley

114

27 FS

Jun 15

Fighter Squadron

27th Fighter Squadron « Fighting Eagles »

USA, Langley, Virginia

116 ?

BR 132

Jun ?

1917

Transport Flight

ET 2/64 Anjou

FRANCE, Evreux

117

23 BS

Jun 16

Bomb Squadron

23rd Bomb Sqn

USA, Minot, North Dakota

118

JG 1

Jun 24

Fighter Sqn/Group

Jagdgeschwader 1 (Red Baron Sqn)

GERMAN Empire Douai (France)

119

11 BS

Jun 26

Bomb Squadron

11th Bomb Sqn

USA, Barksdale, Louisiana

119

20 BS

Jun 26

Bomb Squadron

20th Bomb Sqn

USA, Barksdale, Louisiana

121

No 72

Jun 28

1917

Training Squadron

No 72 RAF

UK, Linton-on-Ouse

122

No 101

Jul 12

Air Refuelling Sqn

No 101 RAF

UK, Brize Norton

123

SPA 153

Jul 1

Fighter Flight

EC 1/3 Navarre

FRANCE, Nancy

124

SPA 152

Jul 9

Helicopter Flight

EHOM 68 Guyane

FRANCE, French Guyana, Rochambeau

124

SPA 162

Jul 9

1917

Fighter Flight

EC 1/7 Provence

FRANCE, Saint Dizier

Jan 28

1918

126

55 FS

Aug 9

1917

Fighter Squadron

55th Fighter Squadron

USA, Shaw, South Carolina

127

77 AS

Aug 13

1917

77 Aero Service Sqn, predecessor to the current 77 FS + 2 Other Squadrons

It has been very difficult to sort out these units in such a ranking as historians are still working on the military aviation history. It is hard to consider whether the administrative or material creation is taken into acount in some cases. For some flights or squadrons, you can find the administrative creation date only but you still find traces of pilots and aircraft’s existence of these very flights and squadrons after and even BEFORE the administrative creation!

Some other dates correspond to the day when units became operational. Moreover, mistakes have been pointed out in some books and website sources. It has become – since the beginning of this chart – that such charts should be updated. Last but not least, the Russian military aviation organization doesn’t match the western patterns, and coould not be inserted in these charts. That is to say that these charts cannot be exactly right… Sorry!

First of all, thank you so much for attending this aviation English class at « Festival des Langues » in Tours today, Saturday, November 24, 2012. Important information: FCL 1.028 and FCL 1.200 will be replaced by FCL .055 and FCL .055 D from April 9, 2013.

Here is the soundtrack we listened to this afternoon. You can download it, then listen directly to 10′ so as to get to the ATIS. Here are the keys(les solutions), see page 4 for the ATIS test, and at the bottom of page 21 for the keys.

Here is a document from the FAA (U.S. Federal Aviation Administration) website that could help you about aircraft vocabulary (click on the picture below):

However, you can read a previous edition of DOC 4444 (14th Edition, updated on November 24, 2005 for instance) if you type « doc 4444 – air traffic management fourteenth edition » like here below (click on the picture):

It isn’t worth reading everything as just for radiotelephony purpose, just skip to chapter 12 – page 161 until page 196.

Two other documents are important for aviation voice communications, and air traffic control:

Thursday November 8, 2012 – Two Iranian Sukhoi Su-25s (Su-25K Frogfoot-A? or Su-25UBK Frogfoot-B?) would have fired at a U.S. drone last week on November 1, at 04.50 am (Eastern Time) as it was flying above international waters – 16 miles off the Kuwaiti coast, according to the Pentagon.

The General Atomics MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was not above Iranian territory when it was intercepted by Frogfoots which engaged the drone. However, the Predator was not shot down, and returned to its base.

George E. Little, Press secretary of the U.S. DoD (Department of Defense) stated: « We have a wide range of options from diplomatic to military. »

Reminder: an American RQ-170 Sentinel UAV had been captured in Iran on December 13, 2011.

The brand new 5th-generation fighterjet Shenyang J-31 – or F60, which would be nicknamed Gyrfalcon – took off on October 31, 2012. She thus performed a test flight – probably her maiden flight – on Wednesday.

This futuristic PLAAF (People’s Liberation Army Air Force) stealth multirole jetfighter looks like an F-35 Lightning II though the Gyrfalcon (or Falcon Eagle?) turns out to be a twin-engine a/c. She would be more maneuverable but smaller than the latest Chengdu J-20 Black Eagle stealth fighter. Her radar cross section (RCS) might be very small, and stealthier than recent 5th-generation fighter aircraft as the radome mounting looks as if it were – like the rest of the airframe – designed with reentrant shapes.

This fighter aircraft would not exceed Mach 2, and she features a DSI (Diverterless Supersonic Inlet) so that the airspeed can be reduced while entering the air intake, thus preventing the engine from breaking up.